Guardsmouse Mikel, performing a Zornhau. I have a huge interest in German medieval swordsmanship. Johannes Liechtenauer was a swordmaster in the 1500’s who pretty much started the tradition, or at least wrote most of it down in code.

The Zornhau is the “strike of wrath”. If you are holding your sword in the “Vom Tag” position, basically at your shoulder, the Zornhau is performed by taking a step forward with your leading foot as you swing the sword in a downward arc at your opponent. You’d block this blow with the “Ochs” position, and bind your opponent’s blade.

…I also learned that mice are hard to draw like this, because their knees are ambiguously placed somewhere in fur. No worries. David Petersen’s Mouse Guard is still awesome.

This is illustration 4 of 365 in my 365 Drawing Project. Thanks for reading.